THE day on which this Island was liberated after five years of enemy rule is, it must be admitted, remote in time. As we celebrate the anniversary each year, fewer and fewer people who experienced the great event remain with us.

However, the significance of the Liberation does not diminish with time. It was the day on which Jersey began reshaping itself into the community we know today. And, as we remember it in the present, we are reminded of the values of freedom on which our democracy is founded.

This year, Liberation Day falls on a Sunday. As ever, there will be ample opportunities for Islanders to reflect on the momentous occasion which is now 65 years distant from the here and now. There will, however, be no public holiday. The States have decided that Islanders will not be granted a celebratory day off on Monday 10 May.

The proposition that there should be an extra holiday was brought by Senator Philip Ozouf, standing in for Chief Minister Terry Le Sueur, but the House finally decided by 27 votes to 22 that it should be work as usual. This was in contrast to the States of Guernsey, who enthusiastically grasped the idea of the extra holiday and are planning a day packed with special events.

Although a range of ideas were expressed during our States debate, the principal reason for the rejection of the 10 May holiday was the cost to the economy. The background to the debate was the difficult recessionary time that we are living through, and the argument that neither the public nor private sectors could afford to step off the treadmill on the day.

There was some logic and pragmatism in the final decision – which was reached only after the expenditure of an inordinate amount of States time – but it was also symptomatic of potentially dangerous attitudes that are beginning to dominate political thinking.

In short, the pound is now very nearly all-powerful, so that even matters such as Island heritage, the sacrifices of the past and thanksgiving for deliverance from tyranny can take second place to what is presented as absolute economic necessity.

As Senator Ozouf, who is in an excellent position to judge, was clearly aware, the Island could have afforded the holiday. Financially, conditions are harsh, but we are far from destitute and Members should not have allowed the illusion that we are to stand in the way of commemoration of the most important occasion in the Island’s modern history.